- Joined
- Jul 25, 2023
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- 18
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- California
- Website
- gulliblegardener.blogspot.com
Everyone's experience with this issue is different and unique. Everyone is going to have unique tips and tricks. As authors, we are all different kinds of people. What works for me, may not work for you. That said, here are some of the things that I used to overcome writer's block, OR, when I had written myself into a corner with no way out (similar to painting yourself into a corner).
1. Sit down and write. Period. Put one word in front of the other. If you only get 300 words out for the day, then you get 300-words. My daily goal for writing was anywhere between 2,000-5,000 words. I did have those days where the creativity just FLOWED out of me. But I had a lot more days where hitting that 300-word goal was like pulling teeth. My own teeth. Without novacaine. Many of those 300-word sections would later get heavily edited or even tossed. The point is: keep going.
2. YouTube Videos: This is a great resource. Most YouTube videos are short and sweet, but also contain links to even more resources on the WWW. Example? The book I am soliciting to agents at the moment deals with a very advanced ROV. I don't know the first thing about ROV's. I've seen them. Most people have, I think. But my book required me to become an expert on them. I had to find out what current ROV's could do. I had to discover what ROV's are used for. Then, I had to create one. I based it upon a model I'd spotted on a YouTube video from Teledyne Marine. But then I had to change that model to make it do the kinds of things it needed to do in the environment I was writing about. Oh, by the way, ROV = Remotely Operated Vehicle.
3. Google search results. There were some weird moments where Google was returning website ideas that had nothing to do with what I wanted. But, there were also some key "oh yeah" moments. As in, "this could be part of the book" ideas. This did happen.
4. The Expertise of Others: This can involve YouTube videos or websites. I needed to know a lot about how nuclear power plants operate. But, I also needed to steer clear of "industry terms" that most people don't know about. When I worked at the State Legislature, we called this "Capitol Speak." It's just a trap that you fall into over time. Avoid industry terminology. Put your explanations, even an explanation as part of a conversation, into easy and interesting terms that any reader can understand. You can find this expertise all over the WWW on any subject ranging from A-Z.
1. Sit down and write. Period. Put one word in front of the other. If you only get 300 words out for the day, then you get 300-words. My daily goal for writing was anywhere between 2,000-5,000 words. I did have those days where the creativity just FLOWED out of me. But I had a lot more days where hitting that 300-word goal was like pulling teeth. My own teeth. Without novacaine. Many of those 300-word sections would later get heavily edited or even tossed. The point is: keep going.
2. YouTube Videos: This is a great resource. Most YouTube videos are short and sweet, but also contain links to even more resources on the WWW. Example? The book I am soliciting to agents at the moment deals with a very advanced ROV. I don't know the first thing about ROV's. I've seen them. Most people have, I think. But my book required me to become an expert on them. I had to find out what current ROV's could do. I had to discover what ROV's are used for. Then, I had to create one. I based it upon a model I'd spotted on a YouTube video from Teledyne Marine. But then I had to change that model to make it do the kinds of things it needed to do in the environment I was writing about. Oh, by the way, ROV = Remotely Operated Vehicle.
3. Google search results. There were some weird moments where Google was returning website ideas that had nothing to do with what I wanted. But, there were also some key "oh yeah" moments. As in, "this could be part of the book" ideas. This did happen.
4. The Expertise of Others: This can involve YouTube videos or websites. I needed to know a lot about how nuclear power plants operate. But, I also needed to steer clear of "industry terms" that most people don't know about. When I worked at the State Legislature, we called this "Capitol Speak." It's just a trap that you fall into over time. Avoid industry terminology. Put your explanations, even an explanation as part of a conversation, into easy and interesting terms that any reader can understand. You can find this expertise all over the WWW on any subject ranging from A-Z.
